1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a positive apparatus for, and method of, rotating bottle-holding chuck assemblies, particularly during coating application, to ensure correct bottle positioning during bottle finishing operations, for instance during exposure to coating application, to provide for coating application around the entire bottle circumference.
2. Related Art
In the bottle manufacturing industry, bottles move through various manufacturing steps suspended from chuck assemblies which are themselves moved by belt systems. One manufacturing step can include the application of a coating to a bottle. Such coatings can include resins to improve gas impermeability of the bottles, and coating to impart color to the bottle. Coatings can also be referred to generically as “paint.” As the bottles are moved through coating application steps, the bottles are spun in order to achieve a uniform application of the coating around the entire bottle. A major defect results when a bottle fails to spin correctly during coating application. A misapplication of coating causes a bottle to be scrapped. Numerous parts of the machine for coating the bottles are also subject to deposits from the coating material and subsequent operational failure.
A linear belt drive, for example, one designed by Feco Engineered Systems, Ltd. of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., uses a series of idler rollers to provide belt-to-chuck contact. The Feco assembly uses a single drive belt mounted on a single side of the chuck assembly with no counterbalancing force. The single-sided application of tensioning force leads to slipping belts, which can cause misalignment. For example, belt slippage can cause misalignment of a bottle with respect to an anticipated position of the bottle for coating application.
Conventional assemblies do not provide positive contact with the chuck assembly throughout the track length. Instead, conventional assemblies provide contact only at a series of tangent points along the track. Lack of continuous contact can cause uneven spinning of the bottles.
Conventional assemblies also do not allow “on the fly” adjustments to the contact tension to compensate for variability in the bottles. Instead, a lengthy adjustment process must be done which is very operator dependent.
What is needed then is an improved assembly that overcomes shortcomings of conventional solutions.